Extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) production by a novel strain of yeast-like fungus Aureobasidium pullulans

A yeast-like fungus producing a large amount of extracellular polysaccharide was isolated from the biogas reactors at North Wyke Research, UK (latitude, 50°46′29″N; longitude, 3°55′23″W). This strain was identified as Aureobasidium pullulans based on nucleotide sequence of the D1/D2 domain of the large-subunit (LSU) rRNA gene. Extracellular polysaccharide or pullulan, produced from this new strain of A. pullulans in shake flasks and a stirred tank fermenter was investigated. A maximum polysaccharide concentration of 40.1 g l−1, and productivity of 12.5 g l−1 per day was obtained in a batch culture from stirred tank fermenter. The optimal cultivation conditions for pullulan production for this strain in 250 ml shake flask containing 100 ml of sucrose medium were observed at 28 °C and with 200 rpm. The effect of different sugars and nitrogen sources on pullulan production was investigated. It was found that more pullulan was produced when the strain was grown in the medium supplemented with NaNO3 than when it was cultivated in the medium supplemented with C5 and C6 sugars and other nitrogen sources.